Clean Fall Cocktail: Pumpkin Margarita

A pumpkin margarita! Because it is not too early to be thinking about Halloween. And also because I need something to look forward to after dealing with Hurricane Irma  for the past 10 days.

I don’t know which was worse, the five days of preparation and fear or the 5 days of clean up and no power after Irma blew through?

All I can say, is that anybody who has been living here in south Florida this past week could probably use a Pumpkin Margarita—or two! I got the idea for the recipe yesterday morning after I heard Al Roker on the Today Show mention that it is now Pumpkin Spice Latte  season once again. But it is WAY TOO HOT for a latte down here in sweaty south Florida.

A pumpkin margarita seems much more suitable for the post-Irma situation.

And in all seriousness, I really do need something fun to look forward to. We are BIG into Halloween and every year we go all out with our biggest party of the year. The photo below is us from last year—Andy was the Joker and I was Poison Ivy 😉

I like to come up with one fun party cocktail each year and looks like this year it will be Pumpkin Margaritas!

What Makes this Pumpkin Margarita a Clean Cocktail?

If you have any of our books, you know I am not a big cocktail person. I much prefer a glass of wine.  Not only does wine have more antioxidants than liquor, it doesn’t come packed with all the empty calorie sugar found in a conventional cocktail. But when I do have a cocktail, I make sure it meets the following criteria, which this one does!

My Clean Cocktail Criteria:

1. No refined sugar. This pumpkin margarita recipe is sweetened only with “whole food” dates.
2. No juice. A lot of “clean cocktail” recipes are made with 100% juice as an ingredient, but unless it is made from the “whole” fruit, juice is a refined ingredient. Your body handles the sugar in juice very differently than the sugar from “whole” fruit. You can read more about why juice is not as healthy as you may think here.
3. Has antioxidants.  Thanks to the addition of nutrient-rich pumpkin puree and dates, this cocktail has beta carotene and polyphenols. It even has fiber too!

I’m not saying I would replace my mid-afternoon green smoothie with a Pumpkin Margarita, but there are definitely worse things you could drink.

Pumpkin Margarita

• Author: Ivy Larson
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Yield: 3 1x
• Cuisine: Cocktail

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon canned pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 8 organic pitted medjool dates, like these ones from Terrasoul
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons silver (or white) tequila
• 2 tablespoons coconut “cream” (see notes below)
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• Pinch of Himalayan salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup ice
• 3 lemon wedges
• 3 tablespoons organic chia seeds, like these from Anthony’s 
• 3 tablespoons unrefined coconut palm sugar, try Nutiva Organic brand

Instructions

1. In a high-speed blender, add the pumpkin puree, lemon juice, ginger, dates, tequila, coconut “cream”, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, salt, water and ice. Process on high speed until smooth. Set aside.
2. Rub the rims of 3 cocktail glasses with the lemon wedge. Mix together the chia seeds and coconut palm sugar on a small plate and then dip each glass in the mixture. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the glasses and serve at once.

Notes

Coconut “cream” is the thick, non-watery part from a coconut milk can.